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No, we "did it ourselves" in India, with a little help from our friends here, at LP and www.indiamike.com. We plan to use Intrepid for Egypt late this year or early 2006.

We travelled through part of Turkey in April 04 with a NZ couple who raved about Intrepid's tours. They did India & Egypt with Intrepid and convinced us! Since then we've spoken to other travellers who've used Intrepid-every comment was positive!

I figure if anyone here is talking about tour group travel they should know some smart alternatives to the heavily marketed expensive tour companies. Intrepid has a great reputation and have been in business for several years.

I shared an office with A&K in Sydney and checked out their prices which were incredibly expensive when we were planning our first African trip in 1997. I get so irritated when I think of those high end agencies adding huge commissions on to the tour wholesale price!

Are you planning an Indian journey? I need to take some tablets to help with my India addiction! All the best!

Lyndie-you are ONE travelin' gal-and I sure like that! As for India, why can't I get down and plan that trip? It is a true fact that I've wanted to go to India since I was a child, I've eaten the best Indian food living in the UK, I fix Indian food at home, even, I know a great deal about Hindu culture, (I have my Ganesh and Shiva) but for some reason, I can't get my hands around the planning of it-I know exactly where I want to go for a first trip-I want esp. to be in Varanasi, Darjeeling, Gangtok, well, I just want to go everywhere-but you can't, of course.

The planning of an Indian trip is very high on my list of travel priorities-would that I could make myself just sit down and do it already!

I am leaving for India next week - using Compass Tours. When I return in early March, I will give a full report. I have total confidence in the agency. They have answered all of my questions, allowed me to completely customize my itinerary and saved me a ton of money.

We found the agency in the middle of the city, a very small office with an appearance not to trust it.... But we booked unfortunately a travel with them.

Well, they recommend us to take a train from Calcuta to Varanasi to enjoy India.... Nothing to do with enjoy. We spent all the night trying to get out of us a million of cockroaches, the most horrible time for me and my girlfriend and all because of their recommendation.

When we arrive to Varanassi, a coopse was there, all people running around in the train station not looking at him, unbelieveble. They pick up us and then other time to the agency to try to sell us anything: tours, hotels.... all at a ver very higher price than that we had bokked oruself by internet. They treated us as we were 1000 dolars walking, very grievous.

We spent there some days and when they had to pick us for the train, they come 2 hours (yes, 2 hours!!!!) later, the train depart only 1o min later and we had lost sure. But because a severe illnes we were taken to the airport and then we come back to our country...

We were not lucky in health aspect, but the agency does not help to!!!

Be careful with them, there are a lot of agencies better than they sure!!!!